If you do decide to lead a group, which is what I also planned to do, we should coordinate days, one of us on Friday and one of us on Saturday. That way, anybody that comes to WF that wants to do this ride will have the opportunity. It seems to be a pretty popular collection of passes for the out-of-staters.

Splitting it up over 2 days also allows the groups to be smaller. 10 people is about the max group size I'm looking for.

RAMZ already has my tracks and should be posting the loop on his website in the next day or so.

I'm happy to not lead a group; I wanna try some of ramz's tracks out
...but I also am happy to lead one if the need is there. I can ride these areas any time during the summer so I'm happy to help out if some "non-locals" would appreciate a guide.

Where were you standing when you took this photo? I really want to do this ride.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pablo83

This is the summit of American Flag Mtn looking north towards Aspen. It's about a 60 mile ride from Buena Vista. I'd love to lead a ride here, but I'm a WF noob so I don't really know what's involved. The route would be some pavement (Cottonwood Pass), mostly wide dirt roads (to Spring Creek Res.) maybe 5 miles of jeep trails that vary in difficulty, and one short hillclimb to finish it. Should I lead a ride here? Or would someone else like to lead and I'll navigate or something like that?

__________________
As we age we tend to become more direct in our thoughts and actions.
For me laundry day is no longer Wishy Washy day.

It's about 130 mi round trip. We'll stop to refuel in Taylor Park. A license plate will be required.

This trip would be best for a 250-550cc bike. There are steep rocky sections. The Forest Service rates one section of this trail as difficult (which is their hardest rating). An expert rider on an XR650L or a G650X Challenge would have no problems, but if this will be your first ride in the Rocky Mountains, this is probably not the ride for you.

The route would be some pavement (Cottonwood Pass); mostly graded two lane dirt roads (to Spring Creek Res.); 5-15 miles of jeep trails; a few miles of rocky singletrack; and one short, steep, rocky hillclimb at the peak. If you are hesitant about the hillclimb, but comfortable with everything else, come anyway. You'll probably do just fine on the hillclimb, but if not, you can wait for us at the saddle below the summit. We have to come back that way. I think most of this ride will be at about 45 MPH so your bike should be geared to comfortably run at that speed, although a comfortable 55 MPH would be better. Otherwise low gearing is best, particularly for the hillclimb.

I'm not exactly sure about the yellow section, this is an estimate as I did not have my GPS on the day I rode it. There is a marked trail here (either a quad track, or a jeep trail) but I can't find it on any maps. Also I have not done the section north of the peak, but it's listed as a jeep trail so it can't be too hard can it? If it is we can go back the way we came.

If we're still feeling peppy at the end of the day we can come back by Tincup or one of those other passes.

Here's a little more detail of the rough stuff:

Once again, here's the money shot. It will be fun to see how many bikes we can get out on the outcropping without anyone falling off.

And here's the hillclimb. The trail is steeper than I think this looks. That's Italian peak in the background. You can also faintly see the trail to the south traversing the opposite side of the canyon.

Good Stuff! Pearl is easier from CB towards Aspen
I think Hair has a gpx. of Italian Creek to Reno Divide with a track drawn to Am Flag Summit.
If Italian Creek isn't running too high go south on Lily Pond Trail, easy singletrack to the Forest Hill Mine to road 748.